Sexing Gerbils

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Sexing Gerbils

Sexing Mongolian gerbils becomes quite straight forward from around 5 weeks of age and there are distinct visible differences between males and females. These main distinct differences are observed in adult gerbils and are as following:

The distance between the urinary and anal openings - Is greater in males than females.

The scrotum of the male. - Is at the base of the tail and is distinct from 5 weeks onwards.

The scent gland. - Is large and prominent in males. An alpha male will have the largest scent gland. A female alpha will invariably have a larger scent gland than subordinate females in the group.

The nipples of the female. -- A method of sexing gerbils at a young age is by the appearance of eight nipples on the underbelly of the pup indicating a female. This method is quite successful at identifying the sex of your pups, but isn't always 100% reliable! Also an adult lactating female will have visible nipples.

The size of their body. - An adult male is significantly larger than a female, however other factors can come into play that affect a gerbils overall size, so isn't an accurate method of determining sex.

Here are two main methods of sexing:

Method 1

1. Place the gerbil in your hand or a firm surface such as a table

2. Take the gerbil by the forefinger & thumb of your opposite hand and gripping the BASE of the tail, lift the rear of the gerbil high enough of the ground to view their genital area.

3. Check the gap between the urinary & anal openings. The gap will be larger in males.

Female Gerbil

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Male Gerbil

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Method 2

1. Hold the gerbil firmly upright around the waist. 2. Observe the genital area closely. Apart from the difference in the gap between the anal and urinary openings, males will have and obvious scrotum or bulge at the base of the tail. This is absent in females.

Male Gerbil

Move the mouse over the picture to find out information on sexing Male Gerbils

Female Gerbil
Move the mouse over the picture to find out information on sexing Female Gerbils